Latest Audit Shows VA Employees Pressured to Falsify Veterans’ Appointment Data

As the Senate confirms a new Veterans Affairs Secretary and prepares to vote on $17 billion to reform the government institution fraught with conspiracy and secret waiting lists, a new audit from VA investigators shows that VA employees of the medical centers and hospitals nationwide were pressured to falsify data about veterans’ appointments and wait times.

fOn Tuesday, July 29th, the Senate unanimously approved the appointment of former Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald as the new VA Secretary, who will take over for acting secretary Sloan Gibson. Congress is also preparing to approve $17 billion to help the VA make desperately-needed improvements to technology and staffing that could, according to a report presented by former acting secretary Gibson, aid in improving wait times at Veterans Administration hospitals and medical centers nationwide.

However, on Wednesday, July 30th, a new report shows that staffing may not be the sole issue. VA Employees who scheduled veterans’ visits to 109 VA medical centers said that wait times had been falsified, and at 110 VA hospitals, employees were pressured to keep secret wait lists – like the scandalous list kept at the Phoenix VA – in order to keep actual lengthy wait times a secret and make the facilities appear as though they were improving their performance.

Workers at Veterans Affairs centers reported that “staff felt they would be subject to disciplinary action” and “were fearful of retaliation” if they did not falsify data about veterans’ appointments.

Auditors interviewed more than 3,200 VA employees at over 700 VA medical centers across the US.

In Charleston, SC, 6.5% of employees reported that they were asked to track appointments outside of the official, computerized scheduling system; 38.7% reported that they were told to falsify data. At the beleaguered Dorn VA facility in Columbia, 16% of employees reported that they were told to falsify wait time data, and 8% of employees were told to track appointments outside of the computer system.

On average nationally, 7.9% of employees at VA medical centers were asked to track appointments outside of the computer system, while 12.8% were asked to manipulate or falsify data about wait times.

“As these new details make painfully obvious some VA executives are so driven in their quest for performance bonuses, promotions and power that they are willing to lie, cheat and put the health of the veterans they were hired to serve at risk,” said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

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